Tag: TV

In the Late 80’s, when I was first in radio, I remember writing a :10 Live event commercial for the DJ’s. It said something like “Join us on January 24th at Masquarade to see…” Well, within a couple of days I got called into the bosses office. He told me some of the best advice I’ve ever heard when writing copy and some of the best advice that I still use to this day, but has not been passed along to enough people.Its a pretty simple, yet mostly overlooked “RULE” in copywriting. here it is:
PEOPLE DON’T THINK IN DATES, THEY THINK IN DAYS” Especially for people like me who think in pictures, I can barely remember what day it is let alone what date it is. And I am not the only one who doesn’t always know what Day a certain Date is. Thus, if a print ad, TV or Radio commercial is telling me to be somewhere on November 24th with no Day listed next to it, It’s going to be extra hard to advertise to me. I actually just mentally tallied it up and came up with Thursday. Not totally sure if that is correct, but pretty sure.

This poster is an example of someone who didn’t use a Day. It only says the date. And they have been putting ads like this in my elevator for months, DATES with no DAYS listed. It’s pretty frustrating for someone like me and probably you too? It’s really not their fault, no one mentored them or called them into their office to explain this easy “trick” to better remembrance of when to be somewhere. Please use Days to help your advertising in Hawaii or around the world become more effective.

Even today which is Halloween I was listening to the radio and a couple of the commercials didn’t say “Join us Tonight” Or even “Join us Monday October 31st”. It was playing today and just said “join us on October 31st” ugh! Yeah-I know, it’s a bit different since most people know October 31st is Halloween, but you get the point, if it was next Monday and it said “Join us November 7..” it would have been pretty easy not to know that it was That Monday night and not some other day since Tonight nor This Monday Night were not used in the commercial.

Here’s how I take care of updates for all of my clients.

1. A couple weeks out: Join us Thursday November 24th

2. The Monday before the Thursday: “Join us This Thursday” or “Join us this Thursday November 24th” Up to you on that one. I personally go for the simpler “Join us This Thursday”

3. Wednesday all day: Join us TOMORROW NIGHT ..How many radio spots do I hear on a daily basis that are still saying “join us November 24th EVEN the Day before the event! double ugh!

4. Thursday November 24th: “Join us Tonight” People think in days and even simpler-use tomorrow night the day before the event and Tonight the day of the event. Totally throw your dates out the window now!

People think in days not dates and this also goes back to the KISS principle..”Keep it Simply Simple” or as us Ol’ Schoolers used to say the politically incorrect KISS principle: “Keep It Simple Stupid”..LOL

You May not want to get this involved in your copywriting, In Such a fast passed world, many get lazy on these simple updates. But it really is the right thing to do. It’s what I do to be as effective as I can for my clients. However, if you remember one thing from this blog, remember that people remember DAYS much easier than DATES. I would recommend adding in Days to all of your print, TV and Radio Commercials. Even if you forget to all the different updates, for a better remembrance of your event ad, please add the day to your commercials, promos, and Ads. Have a Great November!!

If you need any ideas for upcoming events or promotions, send me an at scott.mackenzie@coxradio.com and I’ll get you a bunch of free ideas for your upcoming marketing dilemma.

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Yep, There are only about 11 minutes of real action in an NFL football game.. according to Tom Asacker speaker and author of “opportunity Screams-Unlocking Hears and Minds in Today’s Idea Economy”. Can you believe that? only 11 minutes and a game goes on for at least 3 hours if not longer!!

What does this mean to you and me in and regards to advertising?

1. Make sure you keep the SHOW in Show Business. Whether it’s a football game, a radio remote at a car dealership or even your window display at your store. Make sure you are providing your best version of your product or service at all times. It maybe your 10th remote this month, but for your next customer, it might the first time they ever see you in their life and they are looking for you to perform, entertain and be on your A game. A few quick and easy rules I require my people to do at remotes: NO Eating at the Booth, NO Whispering to each other/gossiping about who did blah blah to whoever at wherevers. Of course, wear your correct clothes and make sure that they are clean, smell good and fit. Do SMILE. DO talk to people as if they are the most important person in the world. Answer any and every question they may ask. If you don’t know the answer find it. And above all have fun or at least LOOK like you’re enjoying yourself!

2. Make your Creative Creative: If there are only 11 real minutes of real action in a football game and someone is DVR’ing it. If your TV commercial isnt enticing, creative, fun, interesting, has a great first line or two-No one’s gonna watch it. They’ll skip on through to the 11 minutes of the real action of the game and watch someone else’s commercial if it’s all or any of the above. People don’t want yackety yack information, give them something they want like some more Show Biz, engage them, connect with them emotionally, entertain them, make them laugh, relate, do something different. One time made a TV commercial where the talent talked for a few seconds then the sound went off, just in case I put some fun lines in print underneath while my expensive 24 seconds played on with the two guys moving their mouths with no sound coming out. And ended it with a cute, fun, quick call to action. It was different, it didn’t win any awards, some of the bosses and even the talent didn’t quite get it, ya know, even the production company questioned it. but People didnt fast forward through it, they STOPPED what they were doing to check and see if something was wrong with their TV and then watched the commercial. Going from Good to great just takes a few more minutes of think time. Next time your need to write a commercial, take that time to do it great or find someone who can.

3. Watch Peyton Manning play football: He know’s that there are only 11 minutes of real playing time. Just watch him in action, he shouts, he bobs his head, he waves his arms, he gets pissed off, he gets happy, and he does all of this with no time off the clock. He is a showman and a really good player too. But first and foremost he gets it-He does the SHOW Business.

That’s all for today, I’m trying my best to entertain and give you something fun to read at least every other day, but today I really need some sleep. From what I hear, I have sleep apnea and who knows, maybe I only get 11 minutes of sleep each night, when I think I’m getting 6 hours.